Roof-anchoring device.



PATENTE-D DEC. 13, 1904.

W. SMALL. ROOF ANCHURING BEVIUE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

llNiTED STATES Patented December 1.3, 190d,

PATENT @rriciz.

VVILY SMALL, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 777,441, datedDecember 13, 1904:.

Application filed July 8, 1904. Serial No. 215,828. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILY SMALL, a citizen of the United States, residingat Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented anew and useful Roof-Anchoring Device, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to devices for guiding and supporting anchoringcables employed to hold the roofs of buildings for preventing theirdestruction by wind-storms, and has'for its object to provide asimplyconstructed and conveniently-applied device whereby theanchor-cables are guided and supported and prevented from injuring theroof and also to enable the strains to be distributed over a greaterarea of roof-surface.

With these and other objects in view,which will appear as the nature ofthe invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

1n the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters,is illustrated the preferred form of the embodiment of the inventioneapable of carrying the same into practical operation, it beingunderstood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, asvarious changes in the shape, proportions, and general assemblage of theparts may be resorted to without departing from the principle of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right istherefore reserved of making all the changes and modifications whichfairly fall within the scope of the invention and the claims madetherefor.

In the drawings thus employed, Figurel is a side view of a portion of abuilding with the improvement applied. Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a hip-roof, illustratingthe manner of applying the device to a roof of this character. Fig. 4 isa detached and enlarged perspective view from the under side of theguide-block. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, enlarged, of one of thebase-plates. Fig. 6 is a perspective view, enlarged, of one of theguide-blocks viewed from above. Fig.

7 is a perspective view, enlarged, of one of the connecting or saddleplates.

The improved device is designed to provide means for supporting andguiding the anchorcables used upon buildings and similar structures inportions of the country subject to severe wind-storms, which frequentlyunroof buildings, and consists of a base-plate 10, havingmeans,such asscrew or nail apertures 11, for attachment to the roof (represented at12) and disposed in place of one or more of the shingles or slates atpoints where the cables (represented at 13) are turned downward throughthe roof to be conveyed thence to the ground or other permanentanchoring locality. The plates will preferably be of sheet metal andgenerally the size of a shingle or roofing slate or tile and will bebuilt in with the shingle or slate to prevent leakage where the platesare located. Attached to each plate is a block 14, having a longitudinalgroove 15 in its outer face and a transverse recess 16 in its side face.The blocks 14 may be mounted to swing upon the base-plate 10, as by apivot-pin 17.0r attached rigidly thereto, as by two pins, one of whichis the pin 17, and with another pin 18 employed in addition, ashereinafter explained. A certain number of the plates 10 will also beconnected by saddle-plates 19 for hanging-over the ridge portion 20 ofthe roof to guide and support the cables passing thereover.

With a supply of the base-plates 10, provided with the screw or nailapertures and spaced apertures for the pins 17 18 and a correspondingsupply of the blocks 14, together with a certain proportion of theplates 10, connected by the saddle-plates 19, any size or form of roofmay be readily equipped with the holding-cables and without change inthe structure of any of the parts. If the roof to be protected is of theplain straight form having an uninterrupted ridge portion 20, a numberof the plates 10 will be secured along the roof near the eaves 22 atsuitable distances with the blocks 14: secured rigidly thereto by thetwo pins 17 18 and a corresponding number of the plates connected by thesaddle members 19 placed over the ridge portion 20. Holes are thendrilled through the plates 10 at the lower ends of the channels 15 andcontinued through the overhanging eaves 22 of the roof, through whichthe cables 13 are conducted to their anchorage at any suitable point inthe ground to the walls of the building or to other permanent supportand likewise carried over the roof and through the channels 15 in allthe blocks in transverse alinement. The blocks thus firmly support thecables and prevent lateral movement thereto and also prevent short bendsin the cables, which might cause fracture under the severe strains towhich they are subjected, while at the same time the relatively largebase-plates firmly support the blocks and distribute the strains over anextended area of the roof. If the cables are to be attached to irregularforms of roofsthose, for instance, having hips, gables, and the like, asin Fig. 3the plates having the saddle members connecting them will beemployed in the same manner upon the ridge portions; but as the lengthsof the eaves in roofs of this character are greater than the lengths ofthe ridge portions a greater number of the plates and their blocks willbe employed along the eaves than along the ridges. The blocks 14, whichcome in alinement with the several ridge-blocks, will be secured rigidlyto their respective plates by the two rivets 17 18 and the cables 13carried over them and anchored, as before described. The surplus blocksat the sides will be pivotally connected at their respective plates 10and shorter cables, as at 23, looped around the blocks 14 at theridgeportions of the roof within the recesses 16 and carried thence over thepivoted side blocks at the eaves and down through the same, as beforedescribed. It will be obvious that the shorter cables 23, extending atangles from the blocks at the ridges, pass to the channels 15 of theblocks at the eaves at corresponding angles. Hence the necessity forpivoting the blocks to permit them to be turned to the same angle toinsure the proper direct draft to the cables. In this connection alsothe holes for the cables will not be drilled in the plates 10, carryingthe swiveled blocks, until the degree of angularity is ascertained tosecure the requisite accuracy of position of the parts.

By this simple means it will be obvious that a very convenient andeflicient support and guide is provided by means of which theanchor-cables may be carried over the roof in any desired direction andwithout injury to the roof or building or danger of weakening thecables.

The blocks and plates will be preferably galvanized or otherwiseprotected from corrosion, and the cables will also be preferably ofgalvanized steel or iron.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. As a newarticle, a block having means for pivoting to a base-plate and providedwith a longitudinal groove in its outer face and a transverse recess inits side face.

2. As a new article, a block having a longitudinal groove in its outerface and a transverse recess in its side face, said block being providedwith one or more apertures extending through the block from the bottomof said longitudinal groove and adapted to receive fastening devices.

3. The anchoring device herein described consisting of a base-platehaving means for attachment to a roof, a guide-block having means forattachment to said base-plate and formed with a longitudinal groove inits outer face and a transverse recess in its side face, and a cableanchored by the ends and leading over said block within saidlongitudinal groove.

4. The anchoring device herein described consisting of a base-platehaving means for attachment to a roof, a guide block having means forattachment pivotally to said base-plate and formed with a longitudinalgroove in its outer face, and a cable anchored by the ends and leadingover said block within said longitudinal groove.

5. The anchoring device herein described consisting of a base-platehaving means for the attachment of an angular extension for engaging theridge member of a roof, a guideblock having means for attachmentpivotally to said base-plate and provided with a longitudinal groove inits outer face, and a cable anchored by the ends and leading over saidblock within said longitudinal groove in the same.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILY SMALL.

Witnesses:

B. T. SEAY, BLAKE SEAY.

